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Obama Says Mitchell Seeks ‘Genuine Progress’ in Mideast Peace

U.S. Special Envoy for Middle East PeaceGeorge Mitchell is beginning his first mission to the region in hisnew post after a White House send-off from President Barack Obama.The President said Mitchell seeks genuine progress to settle theIsraeli-Palestinian conflict, not just photo sessions.

President Obama used the late-afternoonWhite House meeting with Mitchell and Secretary of State HillaryClinton to stress his commitment to reinvigorating the regionalMideast peace process, which has ground to a halt after theconflict in the Gaza Strip.

Mitchell, the former Senate MajorityLeader and key figure in the 1990s Northern Ireland peace accords,begins his initial mission in Egypt Tuesday. He goes on toJerusalem and Ramallah on the West Bank later in the week for twodays of meetings with leaders of Israel and the PalestinianAuthority.

Mr. Obama said Mitchell will be “fullyempowered” by to speak for his administration.

But he said Mitchell’s first officialtrip, which will also include stops in Jordan and Saudi Arabia,will be primarily to listen to leaders in the region and reportback on how the Gaza cease-fire can be solidified and a pathway toa two-state Middle East peace reopened.

“The charge that Senator Mitchell has isto engage vigorously and consistently in order for us to achievegenuine progress,” said President Obama. “And when I say progress,not just photo ops but progress that is concretely felt by peopleon the ground, so that people feel more secure in their lives – sothat they feel that the hopes and dreams and aspirations of theirchildren can be met. That is going to be our task. It is notsomething that we are going to be able to do overnight. But I amabsolutely confident that if the United States is engaged in aconsistent way and an early way, that we can make genuineprogress.”

State Department officials, who sayMitchell will end the mission with consultations in Paris andLondon do not rule out additional stops. But they say he had noplans to visit Gaza or to talk to officials of the radical Islamicgroup Hamas, which controls the coastal strip and refuses to acceptIsrael’s right to exist.

A spokesman here said that in addition toshoring up the Gaza cease-fire, Mitchell will seek an effectiveanti-smuggling and interdiction regime to prevent the rearming ofHamas, while reopening Gaza crossing points and attending tohumanitarian needs there.

The 75-year-old former Senator wrote ahighly-regarded report on the Israeli-Palestinian dispute in 2001that criticized policies of both sides, and formed the basis of the“road map” to a two-state solution issued by the internationalMiddle East “Quartet” two years later.

Former President Bush shunned the use ofspecial envoys in favor of direct diplomacy by the Secretary ofState.

But envoys will apparently be a majordiplomatic tool for the Obama administration. It has also namedformer U.S. Balkans peace envoy Richard Holbrooke to address theAfghan conflict and related border violence in Pakistan, and onMonday announced that former Clinton administration official ToddStern will serve as a special envoy on climate change.